Well, my winter semester is over! I managed to finish everything, though I just squeaked under the wire in the Owl's class. Seriously. I was ridiculous. I hate feeling like I've turned in something that is less than my best work, though that is unfortunately becoming a normal thing. There just isn't enough time. Or else my standards are changing....hmm....
Anyway, I did managed to write the required number of pages on something like the required topic for the Owl, but my grade in the course hasn't posted yet (despite the deadline for grades to post being past), so I'm a little nervous about that.
I had a meeting with H last Thursday, and we discussed my exam from last summer. It was a conversation that was both frustrating and encouraging. So, normal. I took four days off and got back to work yesterday, but I'm having a hard time finding my groove. I've decided to use the blog for a bit of work accountability.
So here's what I've done so far:
Yesterday I emailed an important scholar in the field, at H's suggestion. I haven't heard back from him yet, but hopefully he'll be encouraging and helpful. I also made an attempt to rewrite my introduction, but I wasn't particularly happy with my revision. I kept the same introduction (more or less) for the first four drafts of this paper, and I'm not entirely thrilled about changing it. For a long time, it was the only thing my readers commented positively on, but H suggested, in one of our meetings this semester, that she thought the vignette was throwing me off and confusing the argument. The more I thought about it, the more I realized she was right. I revised, and her next suggestion was to lose the idea of beginning with a vignette altogether. Fine. Okay. So yesterday I sat down, and I realized that I like starting with a vignette. It makes the academic writing seem somehow more...human. I feel like it's mine when it starts with a bit of my life. I don't know where to begin. And that is a problem.
So today I sat back down with the introduction and gave it another go. I fiddled with it for a couple of hours, gave up, and sent it to my readers. I tried to rewrite my outline but ended up reading the new Sookie Stackhouse novel instead. *shrugs* This can't continue. It's time to put my nose to the grindstone and finish this stupid paper. Any suggestions?
